Thursday, March 03, 2011

Showtime All-Star Wrestling TV Report for 2.26.11 by Larry Goodman

Showtime All-Star Wrestling – Episode 159
Airing February 25, 2011 on the America One Network
Taped January 15, 2011 at the HWA Arena in LaVergne, TN

SAW airs on America One at 10pm Fridays with a replay at 3pm Sunday. It streams on the internet at wvvh.com.

Last Week on SAW…Vordell Walker said the stuff with Rudy Charles was bogus and called out David Young…Meanwhile, Young’s self-appointed life coach, Paul Adams said they were going out to celebrate Young’s first SAW victory in over a year…He’s back! a hooded Arrick Andrews attacked “King” Shane Williams…Jesse Emerson scored a tainted win over Ryan Genesis thanks to face full of hot coffee from Rick Santel…Picture Perfect defeated Derrick King Enterprises to win the SAW Tag Team Championship after yet another screw up by Johnny Bandanna.

Michael Graham greeted us from “The House of Hardcore” in Lavergne, TN. He stopped midstream to cut away to Hammerjack and Jeff “The Crippler” Daniels brawling in the back of the arena, apparently unable to contain themselves until the main event. Back to Graham, who promised a good show once order was restored.

David Young made his way to the ring accompanied by A-Team. Young flexed his fake muscles.

Walker was in control until Young delivered the classic Three Stooges eye poke. Young made a dramatic flourish before applying a simple rear chinlock. Santel got in the act by throttling Walker with his cane. Walker rallied with an explosive vertical suplex for a near fall. Young cut him off with a shot to the midsection and got two with a DDT. When Walker hit an atomic drop facebuster (an old AJ Styles move), Adams diverted the ref’s attention. Emerson jumped in the ring, hit the Alabama Slam and pulled Young on top of Walker for the 1-2-3.

WINNER: Young in 4:03. Decent enough match for the little time they were given. It was another standard A-Team interference finish. Young doing mat wrestling in the muscle costume struck me as being especially funny.

Graham pitched to an interview with Jackie Fargo conducted by Reno Riggins. Fargo said he loved the people “like a sweet Florida tomato.” A classic photo of the Fargo Brothers with slicked back platinum blonde hair was shown. Fargo said he got into pro wrestling after being an amateur champion in North Carolina. “I’m meaner than a rattlesnake and tougher than a two dollar steak, but I had to prove it.” Fargo also said he was the originator of the word “pally” in wrestling phraseology. Fargo asked Reno if he wanted to go a few rounds, and Reno said he didn’t think his heart could take it.

“Announcer emeritus” Michael St. John was tasked with interviewing Bobby Eaton. Always a nice guy and never a smooth talker, Eaton was true to form. Eaton said Reno stabbed him in the back 20 years ago, and he hadn’t forgot about it. “I know I’m not in the shape I was 20 years ago. In my mind, I am.” They talked about how the South historically produced some of the best pro wrestlers.

Bandanna’s losing streak vs. Melton’s winless record – something had to give. They traded holds. Melton capped off a nice display of athleticism with a pair of dropkicks right on the button. Back from commercial, Melton still had the upper hand, but as he tried for a shoulder block, Bandanna stunned him with knee lift. O’Feelyah got a cheap shot in. Graham noted that Bandanna was so on the outs with DKE that O’Feelyah was the only member accompanying him to ringside. Bandanna used mostly punch, pound and choke offense with a sweet bridging facelock mixed in. Excess time wasting saw Bandanna kiss the turnbuckle on a missed Stinger Splash. Comeback by Melton and a spinwheel kick for a near fall, then a twisting powerslam for a long two count. Bandanna with a short cut to regain the advantage. Bandanna draped his bandana over Melton and went for a middle rope moonsault. Nobody home. Melton rolled Bandanna up to get his first win in SAW.

WINNER: Melton in 6:30. For pure execution, this was one of SAW’s better matches. Bandanna may be a buffoon but he has skills. Melton is worthy of a push.

George Gulas plugged the GOSW event in LaVergne that took place on 2/5.

They showed footage of Williams interrupting the legends presentation. Jackie and Don Fargo, Eaton, and Gypsy Joe were in the ring having received certificates from Gulas when the regal music of the “The King” rang out. Crown in hand, Williams entered with a round of hugs for the legends. He then addressed Jackie. “It’s me! It’s me! It’s me!” Never one to suffer fools gladly, Jackie blew Williams off. Williams got pissed and ripped up Jackie’s certificate. Jackie popped Williams with a short right hand. Williams bumped and took his wounded ego to the back. They showed a clip of Don and Jackie doing a tandem Fargo Strut for old time’s sake.

Graham pitched to words from the combatants in tonight’s main event.

Three weeks ago…the scene is the parking lot of the Rusty Nail bar. Hammerjack said it was place from his past where he and Daniels hung out, and now his past was coming back to haunt him. Hammer said he was being falsely accused. “Brother, you know I didn’t do none of that. You were probably the one that did it and tucked tail and pointed the finger at me.” Hammer said he was ready for a fight, any time, any where. “You think you got what it takes? I’m not hard to find.”

Cut to Daniels standing next to a blazing fire. He said Hammerjack could deny beating up the old man, stealing the money and setting up Big Mike, because the old man died of a heart attack and he couldn’t tell the cops any different.

On the15th, it’s time to drop the hammer. There’s a fire burning inside of me and that fire is fueled by revenge. Revenge – you remember that, you live with that, you wake up in the middle of the night and look around that room and you make sure that I’m not there, because I might be…It’s not going to be a wrestling match. No. And it don’t matter who wins and loses because it ain’t about a three count, Hammerjack. What this is about, heh, heh, heh, is taking care of business…Oh the fire that burns, the 15th, one week away, Hammer, one week. And you’ve got to walk that aisle. And you got to face your demons. Your past always comes back to bite you, Hammerjack. Only this time it’s going to be much worse than a bite. I’m coming to take you out, Hammer. I’M COMING TO TAKE YOU OUT. And if I said it once, I said it a hundred times, I’d rather go to my momma’s funeral than my own. They don’t call me the Crippler for nothin’. On the 15th, (sinister laughter) somebody’s gonna get hurt.

3 –JEFF “The Crippler” DANIELS vs. HAMMERJACK

Graham said these guys made him nervous. They went nose to nose. Daniels with a shove and they started slugging it out. It was nothing but an intense gutter brawl. The crowd was weirdly silent. Daniels delivered a wicked elbow drop to the base of the neck with Hammer in a sitting position. He also bit Hammer in the freaking ear. Daniels dropped an elbow but refused to cover. They went back and forth rocking each other with big punches. A mid ring collision sent Daniels rolling to the floor, where he found a coathanger conveniently stashed under the ring. Back inside, Hammer evaded the coathanger and hit a sitout slam. Hammer had the coathanger around Daniels’ throat when an unidentified woman bonked him in the head with a hammer. Daniels wrapped the coathanger around Hammerjack’s throat. Graham noted that Hammer’s face was changing colors. The female assailant was screaming in Hammer’s face. Daniels released his grip -- “Within an inch, Hammer, within an inch!”

WINNER: Hammerjack via DQ in 4:36 when an unidentified woman (Dominique) cracked him the head with a hammer.

The show closed with Daniels at ringside, still shouting and looking completely out of his mind, while an unconscious Hammerjack was surrounded by SAW officials.

Afterthoughts: Given the way things went down at the Gulas Memorial taping, SAW was left to salvage what they could from a miserable situation. The show was 4½ hours old when the matches on this episode were taped. The crowd was down to the diehard fans and they were fading fast. It reminded me of those bottom-of-the-barrel tapings at the original SAW Mill. As mentioned in last week’s review, the other huge negative was the abysmal look of the venue (Bro called it a shanty in his review, which was not much of an exaggeration)…The vignettes did a great job of building up the main event. Daniels knocked it out of the park with a performance that transcended the preposterous back story. Then, they go out and have a whale of a brawl and nobody cares except Michael Graham, and he’s on the edge of his seat. The live crowd had no clue about the story. The other matches suffered a similar fate…The interview with Jackie Fargo worked. Reno was clearly honored to be interviewing a legend of Fargo’s caliber. The segment with Jackie and Williams not so much. Great idea. Great stuff from Williams. Crappy production. The mic was inaudible, and there was something sad about seeing legendary stars presented in such a low rent environment. With that said, the Fargo strut was a memorable moment. Don enjoyed the hell out of it. Try as he might, St. John couldn’t pry much in the way of insightful comments out of Eaton…A lot of treading water on storylines this week with the finish of main event providing the only notable development. Very cool finish. Daniels’ facial expressions were awesome. Definitely the high point of a very mediocre hour.